Ambrosia Veggie House

Reviews

• Emily H.

  star star star star star 12 June 2026

  Very good vegetarian buffet! Prices are good - 11.99$ for lunch. The menu changes everyday but there is always sad, rice, and six different veggie dishes.

• jonathan h.

  star star star star star_border 5 June 2026

  Great buffet for lunch. Vegetarian food are great. Delicious. Parking is available on the side of the building which is rare to find in downtown.
  
  If you enjoy Chinese food and vegetarian this is a perfect place to go. Yummy!

• Nessie J.

  star star star star star_border 29 May 2026

  Little gem! It's only open for two hours a day but has a great vegan buffet. The price is cheap, and you definitely leave full. Food was tasty - it was fun to keep trying different things! My only complaint is that they were a bit slow getting out the food, and when they did, it was picked clean within 5 minutes.

• Kitty T.

  star star star star star_border 24 May 2026

  I have to say, being a vegetarian nowadays is probably much easier than back in the old days (how long ago, can't say.  Just making an assumption).  Vegetarian food can be so versatile and it's no longer just tofu and greens, although a lot of mock meat is still made with tofu or soy protein components.  I went on a vegetarian diet for 30 days and it actually went pretty well! I did not stuff myself with carbs this time around but I'll say this... tofu does not fill you up for long! And I don't like beans.  So I would fail miserably if I were to give up meat for life.
  
  There's not many vegetarian restaurants in town, but one such one would be Ambrosia Veggie House, who serves Pan Asian Chinese Vegetarian Food.  They are both vegan and vegetarian, and has a pretty vast menu! I find their location interesting as it's located on the side of Avatamsaka Sagely Monastery (華嚴聖寺) - I'm not sure if the monastery opened the restaurant.
  
  My family decided to try out the restaurant with me.  Here's what we ordered:
  
  Spring Rolls - $4.75
  I didn't try these but I imagine they were just simply stuffed with vegetables.  Served with plum dipping sauce.
  
  Satay Skewers - $6.75
  These were made with very firm soy nuggets and was on the spicy side!
  
  Crunchy Seaweed Sticks - $8.75
  These were seaweed wrapped firm soy nuggets, deep fried, and coated in a sweet and sour sticky sauce.  I enjoyed the chewiness of this.
  
  Mashed Potato Tofu Pockets - $12.75
  Bean curd sheets stuffed with mashed potato and then deep fried - they were nicely flavorful but the bean curd sheets were way too chewy.  I think if they can use something else, like a puff pastry to get that nice, melt in your mouth texture, then this would be a lot easier and enjoyable to eat.
  
  Jade Rolls - $12.75
  I'm no stranger to this.  These are vegetable stuffed bean curd rolls which I used to eat a lot of.  I love that savoury gravy that atop it!
  
  Sweet and Sour Bean Curd Rolls - $12.75
  This is pretty close to the real thing with all the right flavors and vegetables that normally come in a sweet and sour pork dish!
  Lettuce Wrap - $14.75
  
  I thought the faux meat mixture was done really well (tasted really good on rice), but was a bit taken back with the five lettuce leaves they provided.  Yes, five.  We had eight people - six adults minus my two kids.  I'm pretty sure lettuce is cheap...
  
  Stir Fried Mixed Greens - $10.75
  A plate of Shanghai bok choy sauteed with a good amount of wok "hei".
  
  Eight Treasures Tofu Hotpot - $14.75
  This was kind of bare.  They didn't substitute anything for the "meat" so it was just tofu and vegetables.
  
  Shanghai Style Chow Mein - $10.75
  Your standard Shanghai noodles, minus the meat.
  
  Assorted Fried Rice - $10.75
  A simple vegetable fried rice with faux meat bits.  This was particularly tasty for some reason, and my brother's gf mentioned that it was fried with a lot of oil... ah, that's probably why.  And it also had really good wok "hei" too!
  
  This was actually a very tasty meal, but it is on the pricier side as portions were also on the small side.  However, it takes a lot more effort to turn something non meat to make it taste somewhat like meat!

• Eswina N.

  star star star star star_border 14 May 2026

  I have always been a carnivore but if I had someone serving up food like Ambrosia does I could easily see myself becoming vegetarian and vegan at that (well at least for 75% of the time). So far all the dishes I've had have been delicious and extremely well presented.
  Ambrosia Veggie House is located right in the temple building that is at the end of the 10 St. Sunnyside Bridge just as you turn off to head towards Bow Trail. There is an entrance to a small parking lot almost right away to your left so be careful not to miss it.
  The decor is tasteful and service is good. I have always had the same waitress serving on the 3 occasions I've been here and she is always pleasant and helpful.
  Ambrosia has a selection of 4-5 specialty teas that you can order from and each one is distinctive and is $3.75/pot except for the jasmine which is 2.75. The tea is made from quality loose leaf teas that you can purchase from the restaurant.
  Orthodox Buddhist do not eat onions or garlic so there is none used in the cuisine; that being said I was told that MSG is used to enhance the flavours but food can be requested to be MSG free and that it would be no problem.
  So far I've had the following appetizers: Marinated Bean Curd Rolls, Thousand Layered Tofu Rolls. Both are served up warm. The time I had the Marinated Bean Curd Rolls, they were warm on one end but really cold at the other so it's obvious that these are pre-made and warmed up. They tasted good both warm and cold.
  Meat lovers should be pretty surprised by the Soy and Burdock Short Ribs in Black Bean Sauce. The texture of the "ribs" was very meat-like and the burdock stem looked like a bone. I also love the Lotus tofu puffs which were stuffed with veggies and mushrooms.
  Mushrooms are a big feature in most of the dishes so for my friends with a profound dislike of mushrooms this place is not for you. The dishes are also NOT gluten free though they will try and accommodate when possible but guests are told to ask about each dish if gluten is involved. Ambrosia is a nice addition to those seeking vegetarian-centric establishments. No meat whatsoever is served here. Soy & mushrooms is involved in many of the dishes.